3:23pm: Ingles is likely to receive a guaranteed salary from the NBA team that ends up with him, Stein writes in his full story. Marc Gasol, a marquee name among potential 2015 free agents, is widely known to admire Ingles, Stein notes.
2:59pm: The Grizzlies are again in the hunt for Ingles, Stein reports (Twitter link). Ingles turned down a two-year offer from Memphis last year, as we noted below.
TUESDAY, 2:13pm: Ingles is a “virtual lock” to sign with an NBA team for the coming season, as seven or eight teams are in pursuit, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Sixers still appear to be one of them, but Ingles is unlikely to sign with Philadelphia, Stein adds (on Twitter).
MONDAY, 1:26pm: Australian small forward Joe Ingles has fielded interest from the Sixers, sources tell Sporando’s Orazio Cauchi (Twitter link). David Pick of Eurobasket.com reported this weekend that multiple NBA teams were eyeing the 26-year-old, so it looks like Philadelphia has some competition.
The Grizzlies, Hawks and Jazz were reportedly interested in Ingles as of March, when Pick wrote that he was thinking about making the jump to the NBA this summer. Ingles rejected a two-year offer from Memphis last year, around the same time that the Pacers, Bucks and Clippers also seemingly had their eyes on the veteran of international play. NBA teams passed on him in the 2009 draft, and his pro numbers haven’t been impressive. Ingles averaged just 6.0 points in 21.2 minutes per game for Maccabi Tel Aviv this past season, but he’s been a more significant part of the offense for the Australian national team in the FIBA World Cup this week, notching 14.5 PPG in 26.5 MPG.
The Sixers have no shortage of cap flexibility to outbid other NBA suitors and float an offer large enough to pry Ingles from overseas. They also have plenty of roster space. They’re carrying only eight guaranteed deals, as our roster counts show. Philadelphia can also provide Ingles with a familiar presence in coach Brett Brown, who coached him on the Australian national team in the 2012 Olympics, as Paul Garcia of Project Spurs notes (on Twitter).